Yesterday The We Company filed its S-1 form with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and it details the unnecessarily complicated way that the company is organised.

In brief, the company is invested in co-working spaces, private schools and housing through its WeWork, WeGrow and WeLive subsidiaries. The We Company owns and leases numerous properties that it then opens up to people who purchase a membership — in total, the company has more than 790 offices located in over 35 countries, according to its own website. It’s not shy with splurging on spaces, having spent $850 million in 2017 to buy the Lord & Taylor Building on Fifth Avenue in NYC from Hudson’s Bay.

There’s something interesting about We’s S-1, however. The We Company is a real-estate company — no matter how much it tries to pass as a technology startup, it’s in the business of renting office space. But We boasts about its “extensive technology infrastructure” in the filing, without actually detailing what it means by this.

It’s boasted as a “complete wellness experience” that goes above and beyond a traditional gym

A membership is surprisingly affordable at $199 USD per month

There’s a “superspa” that is a communal experience for members to lounge in a spa, steam room or mineral pool

Beside these four main ventures, We also owns the Flatiron School and Meetup.

How The We Company is set up

The company is planning on going public using a method called “Up-C”, turning The We Company into a LLC. Investors will then purchase shares in a separate holding company that owns a stake in The We Company — essentially acting as a mirror company.

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2019 Q2

Locations

2

7

23

111

425

528

Cities

1

3

8

34

100

111

Memberships

450

4,000

15,000

87,000

401,000

527,000

This also means there could be big tax breaks for the business and its investors, who have to pay tax on profits at individual income tax rates. Plus according to a document from legal firm Simpson Thacher, insiders will see taxes lowered by 7 percent.

Neumann also regularly purchased and then leased buildings to WeWork, making millions on the deals

He gave Business Insider and Axios interviews that violated the SEC’s IPO quiet period — The We Company filed for its IPO in December and the quiet period begins when a company files for registration and ends when the statement is “effective”

Like other unicorns — take Uber and Slack as examples — The We Company is burning through cash at a rapid pace. In fact, it burned through $900 million USD in the first six months of 2019, but we’ll have to wait until the end of the year to see whether it will top the $1.9 billion in losses the company had in 2018.

But the good news is that the company faces higher upfront cost when purchasing real estate, then has lower recurring costs, like staff, electricity and perks for members. Time will tell whether the company is able to generate enough recurring revenue to offset the high upfront purchases.